3 ms·

This is horrifying. I'm very curious how they obtained the relevant data to track each cell phone, and even more curious how anyone gave permission to be tracke

This is horrifying. I'm very curious how they obtained the relevant data to track each cell phone, and even more curious how anyone gave permission to be tracked.

WhiskeyChicken 4y ago
This is either cell carrier data or data that is gathered from those "free" apps and games people love to install and grant all permissions to.
detaro 4y ago
I was under the impression that e.g. phone carriers in the US fairly freely sell that kind of data to whoever pays for it, and can do so legally except for less than a handful of states states with useful general privacy regulations? (general in contrast to sector-specific ones like HIPAA)
- legitster 4y ago
  They can still be bound by what their privacy policy states. For example, AT&T is pretty open and clear about what they do with your data (a lot). https://about.att.com/privacy/full_privacy_policy.html https://about.att.com/privacy/full_privacy_policy.html
mirkules 4y ago
There are several ways I can think of. First, people were willingly installing COVID-19 contact apps to alert them if they were in contact with a confirmed-positive case. Despite all of “us” (security-paranoid people) shouting at the top of our lungs that This Is A Bad Idea. Second, your phone is constantly listening to a list of SSIDs and bluetooth identifiers to connect to and broadcasts a small amount of info - like your MAC address -, which can uniquely fingerprint your device. Supermarkets, for example, have used this for years to track shoppers. They can easily track your phone without GPS just by listening what it broadcasts and where from. And it is also then not a surprise when Apple decided to remove the functionality to turn off WiFi and Bluetooth from the “drawer” and instead of for it to only “disconnect from nearby networks until tomorrow.” Here is the article about WiFi and retail stores https://lifehacker.com/how-retail-stores-track-you-using-your-smartphone-and-827512308 https://lifehacker.com/how-retail-stores-track-you-using-you...
- BizarroLand 4y ago
  It was actually nice to get notified that I had been exposed to COVID 2 days before I came down with symptoms. I was able to avoid my coworkers and prevent me from spreading it to them and their families. In most things I would agree to the adage about those who would give up their freedom for safety deserve neither freedom nor safety, but the right to not share my location data to help people be aware of a deadly pandemic and protect themselves is not something I would consider a freedom, and it was given up to protect other people's safety which is a noble cause.
  - mirkules 4y ago
    We always sacrifice liberty for these "noble" goals, don't we? But once you do, there is never getting them back. See: PATRIOT Act. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
    - BizarroLand 4y ago
      If there is a liberty to expose innocent people to potentially deadly diseases I don't want it for myself or others. If that's a step towards hell then God is not good.
      - illuminerdy 4y ago
        > "If there is a liberty to expose innocent people to potentially deadly diseases I don't want it for myself or others." But you don't get to make that decision for OTHERS. If you are worried about COVID, stay home and wrap yourself in a bubble. There's a certain amount of risk that comes with living with people.
        BizarroLand 4y ago
        Meh, I don't have to countenance the opinions of selfish people
        4y ago
legitster 4y ago
It doesn't sound like they do - from their whitepaper https://www.predictwise.com/whitepaper https://www.predictwise.com/whitepaper: > PredictWise has collected hundreds of thousands of respondents reporting party identification and models voters through survey, mobile data, and location data compiled through mobile devices > PredictWise’s database includes verified data on 50 Million+ unregistered voters, sourced through credit files and portal registration data (e.g. Crate&Barrel), and is carefully purged of duplicates or registered voters, updating daily. PredictWise (PW) machine learning models predict the party of unregistered based on survey respondents from hundreds of thousands of Americans and can apply support scores to turnout your electorate. > We make full use of the probability models on the file, ensuring that each individual will get a score reflecting his or her exact position. The end result is a continuous score for each cluster ranging from 0 to 100 for every American represented on the file. So, they have a few hundred thousand survey fills/app installs. Then they combine the data against 50 million public records, and then they extrapolate it out for the entire voter population. So they may have one or two given devices in an area and then their model says what that represents across everyone.

This is horrifying. I'm very curious how they obtained the relevant data to track each cell phone, and even more curious how anyone gave permission to be tracked.

WhiskeyChicken 4y ago

This is either cell carrier data or data that is gathered from those "free" apps and games people love to install and grant all permissions to.

detaro 4y ago

I was under the impression that e.g. phone carriers in the US fairly freely sell that kind of data to whoever pays for it, and can do so legally except for less than a handful of states states with useful general privacy regulations? (general in contrast to sector-specific ones like HIPAA)

legitster 4y ago
They can still be bound by what their privacy policy states. For example, AT&T is pretty open and clear about what they do with your data (a lot). https://about.att.com/privacy/full_privacy_policy.html https://about.att.com/privacy/full_privacy_policy.html

mirkules 4y ago

There are several ways I can think of. First, people were willingly installing COVID-19 contact apps to alert them if they were in contact with a confirmed-positive case. Despite all of “us” (security-paranoid people) shouting at the top of our lungs that This Is A Bad Idea. Second, your phone is constantly listening to a list of SSIDs and bluetooth identifiers to connect to and broadcasts a small amount of info - like your MAC address -, which can uniquely fingerprint your device. Supermarkets, for example, have used this for years to track shoppers. They can easily track your phone without GPS just by listening what it broadcasts and where from. And it is also then not a surprise when Apple decided to remove the functionality to turn off WiFi and Bluetooth from the “drawer” and instead of for it to only “disconnect from nearby networks until tomorrow.” Here is the article about WiFi and retail stores https://lifehacker.com/how-retail-stores-track-you-using-your-smartphone-and-827512308 https://lifehacker.com/how-retail-stores-track-you-using-you...

BizarroLand 4y ago
It was actually nice to get notified that I had been exposed to COVID 2 days before I came down with symptoms. I was able to avoid my coworkers and prevent me from spreading it to them and their families. In most things I would agree to the adage about those who would give up their freedom for safety deserve neither freedom nor safety, but the right to not share my location data to help people be aware of a deadly pandemic and protect themselves is not something I would consider a freedom, and it was given up to protect other people's safety which is a noble cause.
- mirkules 4y ago
  We always sacrifice liberty for these "noble" goals, don't we? But once you do, there is never getting them back. See: PATRIOT Act. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
  - BizarroLand 4y ago
    If there is a liberty to expose innocent people to potentially deadly diseases I don't want it for myself or others. If that's a step towards hell then God is not good.
    - illuminerdy 4y ago
      > "If there is a liberty to expose innocent people to potentially deadly diseases I don't want it for myself or others." But you don't get to make that decision for OTHERS. If you are worried about COVID, stay home and wrap yourself in a bubble. There's a certain amount of risk that comes with living with people.
      - BizarroLand 4y ago
        Meh, I don't have to countenance the opinions of selfish people
        4y ago

legitster 4y ago

It doesn't sound like they do - from their whitepaper https://www.predictwise.com/whitepaper https://www.predictwise.com/whitepaper: > PredictWise has collected hundreds of thousands of respondents reporting party identification and models voters through survey, mobile data, and location data compiled through mobile devices > PredictWise’s database includes verified data on 50 Million+ unregistered voters, sourced through credit files and portal registration data (e.g. Crate&Barrel), and is carefully purged of duplicates or registered voters, updating daily. PredictWise (PW) machine learning models predict the party of unregistered based on survey respondents from hundreds of thousands of Americans and can apply support scores to turnout your electorate. > We make full use of the probability models on the file, ensuring that each individual will get a score reflecting his or her exact position. The end result is a continuous score for each cluster ranging from 0 to 100 for every American represented on the file. So, they have a few hundred thousand survey fills/app installs. Then they combine the data against 50 million public records, and then they extrapolate it out for the entire voter population. So they may have one or two given devices in an area and then their model says what that represents across everyone.